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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23623678">Crumbling</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TariSilmarwen/pseuds/TariSilmarwen'>TariSilmarwen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Titans (Animated Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:48:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,194</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23623678</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TariSilmarwen/pseuds/TariSilmarwen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Starfire offers herself up to a villain to spare the others and Robin cannot stand it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dick Grayson &amp; Raven, Dick Grayson &amp; Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson &amp; Victor Stone, Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, Garfield Logan &amp; Victor Stone, Joseph Wilson &amp; Slade Wilson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>70</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Crumbling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I take no responsibility for this, the RobStar discord goaded me into it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Starfire's first scream went up Robin flinched, but after a momentary pause, shook himself and kept working, concentrating on the lines of code scrolling across Cyborg's arm display.</p><p>The pale blue light from it was all that illuminated the cell, splashing across the thick reinforced steel walls.  Blast-proof, electro-saw proof, an impressive feat of construction really, that he might have appreciated in a circumstance where it wasn't severely limiting their options for escape.</p><p>Robin's belt had been confiscated, along with the lockpicks he kept hidden on his person—they had been very thorough—further limiting their choices.  Cyborg's hands had been removed at the wrists, his biointerface messed with so that he couldn't access any of his inbuilt weapons or tools, and with Raven and Beast Boy both locked in power nullification collars and Starfire in the next room having who knew what being done to her, this was their last idea left.</p><p>Cyborg sat calmly in place, checking their progress.  Metal tubes from the stumps of his wrists trailed across the floor in both directions, hotwired into Beast Boy and Raven's collars.  As Robin slowly restored his programming line by line, he was hacking into them, working through the simple encryption that protected the collars from outside signal interruption.</p><p>The half-robot felt Robin stiffen again, as another scream went up from behind the wall, the boy's hands on his metal arm fisting tightly.  Cyborg glanced up, seeing Robin's face twisting, as though<em> he</em> were the one being tortured.</p><p>He touched Robin's shoulder.  "Hey," he called.  "She'll be all right," he said, encouragingly.  "Our girl's really strong, you know."</p><p>Robin exhaled slowly, relaxing his hands.  "I know, I just..."  His voice was shaky, a trembling note in it.  "I hate hearing her in pain."</p><p>He kept his words quiet, low, a nervous crawling awareness in the back of his head of the eyes watching him.   Or, single eye rather.</p><p>Slade sat in the shadows against the far wall, observing silently.  The reason he was here—the <em>only</em> reason, he'd emphasized repeatedly—was lying prone across the man's lap.  Jericho was unconscious and pale, electric burns all across his face and body, his uniform ripped and dirty.</p><p>Robin tried not to think about the fact that whatever had been done to him was probably being done to Starfire, right that moment.</p><p>Despite his cautious whisper, Slade apparently overheard him.  "Then you had better work quickly," he commented, witheringly flat.</p><p>The Boy Wonder resisted the urge to snap back at the villain.</p><p>"I'm trying, it's—"  He let out a frustrated exhale.  "—it's complicated."</p><p>"That's an encouraging assessment," Slade said.</p><p>"Look, if you don't have anything productive to say just <em>shut up</em>," Beast Boy piped up, snapping, crossing his arms and glaring at the man.  "Seriously dude."</p><p>Slade turned his head and held up a hand, backing off.</p><p>Robin paid Beast Boy a grateful look, to which the changeling replied with a nod, and then got back to work, fixing another line of code.</p><p>He tried not to think about what was happening in the next room.  What Starfire had offered herself up for, to save the rest of them.</p><p>He still hated it every time it replayed in his head.</p><p>-TT-</p><p>
  <em>The heavy door clicked open, spilling blinding light into the dark cell.  The Titans tensed, Robin and Beast Boy and Raven all standing at once to their feet, glaring across at the white-coated villain and his armed entourage.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The guards raised their firearms immediately to discourage any funny business as their boss stepped forward.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Finding your accommodations comfortable?" he asked, a veneer of politeness over his slimy cadence.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Oh yeah," Beast Boy snarked.  "Pitch black room with no seats or TV, just five-star stuff there."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The man—a mad scientist who went by the name Dr. Agony—shifted to face Slade's corner, sneering.  "I must say, Deathstroke," he said, "I was never expecting you to bring so many young heroes with you.  I always thought you worked alone.  I suppose I should thank you."  A creepy grin spread his face.  "Now I have plenty of test subjects for my experiments!" he crowed.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Slade's glare had been ice cold, seething with withheld anger.  "I hope you realize you're dead when I get out of here," he said calmly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dr. Agony backed off with a bit of a nervous laugh, turning his attention instead to the Titans.  He looked them over one by one, considering them, scrutinizing them.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Let's see... who to try my device on next?" he mused.  A hand pinched his chin in contemplation as he paced before them.  "The youngest?" he suggested, stopping briefly in front of Beast Boy, who glared right back.  Dr. Agony glanced aside at Robin thoughtfully.  "Or perhaps the one without powers?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>There was a stirring next to the Boy Wonder, and an orange hand inserted itself between him and the doctor.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I will do it," Starfire said firmly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dr. Agony clapped his hands together and rubbed them.  "A volunteer!  Oh how exciting!  This has never happened!" he gushed.</em>
</p><p><em>Robin turned aside to Starfire, his expression agonized.  "Star,</em> don't," <em>he begged.  "Let me do it."</em></p><p>
  <em>She shook her head.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I am more resilient than the rest of you and... I have faced torture before," she told him, hesitating on the last part. She turned her face up to him with a sad smile.   "I will be okay," she promised in a whisper.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Robin bit his lip, but stepped back with a nod.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Starfire steeled herself, facing the villain.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Right this way, my dear!" he said, extending a hand past himself towards the door.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Straightening her chin, Starfire walked past him.  The guards flanked her on the way out, hiding her from view before Dr. Agony followed behind and the door snapped shut plunging them into pitch blackness once again.</em>
</p><p>-TT-</p><p>The minutes ticked on inside the cell.  Cyborg tested his biointerface every so often, slowly regaining functionality.  Raven sat in a meditative position, eyes closed, concentrating on the vague sensations she could feel past the collar's dampening.  Beast Boy fidgeted, bouncing his foot and tapping his hands on his knee.</p><p>Occasional yells came from behind the door, but they were brief.  Aside from making the Titans flinch, they weren't a distraction.</p><p>Until suddenly... the screaming didn't stop.</p><p>A shriek went up, louder than before, long and agonized.  Robin gasped sharply, head whipping towards the door.  The shriek went on, and on, and <em>on</em>.</p><p>Beast Boy stopped fidgeting.  Raven's face pinched, her eyes tightening, and Cyborg looked towards the wall worriedly.  Even Slade cast a concerned look that direction.</p><p>Shaking, Robin forced his attention back down on Cyborg's arm, fingers sliding across the display keys.  Starfire's scream finally died down, and Robin almost sighed in relief, but then a new wail started.  And then another, and then another, and then another after that.</p><p>Robin's fingers fumbled and he frantically backtracked several lines of code to correct several errors he'd made, only to make new ones.  He tapped agitatedly at the keyboard display before his hands dropped off Cyborg's arm, covering his face.</p><p>"Oh god..." he breathed.</p><p>"Don't give up," Cyborg encouraged, eyes earnest.  "You've almost got it."</p><p>Robin inhaled deeply, trying again.</p><p>Raven's eyes were open now, fixed on the wall, her face paling as Starfire's screaming continued in an uninterrupted streak.  Beast Boy gave a little whimper, bringing his hand up and biting his thumb.</p><p>They didn't need to say anything for Robin to understand what they were all thinking.  The sooner Cyborg was fixed, the quicker they could help Starfire.  It was all up to him.  It was all up—</p><p>Starfire screeched, a shrill high-pitched cry that rang like alarm bells in their heads.</p><p>Robin rocked back, his hands clamping over his ears, fingers clawing against his scalp, squeezing his eyes closed tightly.</p><p>"Stop..." he whispered.  "Stop it..."  His voice trembled as he begged the open air.  "...<em>please.</em>.."</p><p>"Robin," Cyborg called.</p><p>No response.</p><p>"Robin, hey!" Cyborg said, a little louder, lifting his arm and sharply slapping the boy's shoulder with the stub of his wrist.  "Snap out of it!  I need to you <em>focus!</em>" he admonished, eyes and expression firm.</p><p>Robin shook his head weakly.  "I can't...  I—I can't, Cyborg, she..." he stammered.</p><p>"We can't <em>help her</em> unless we finish this," Cyborg reminded him with emphasis.</p><p>It was no use.  Robin was already curling up with his knees to his chest, mumbling incoherently, hands still squeezing his ears.</p><p>"...my fault, s'all my fault, I shouldn't have let her..."</p><p>Cyborg glanced about in aggravation and frustration.  "C'mon man, don't do this now," he pleaded, an edge of desperation creeping into his face.</p><p>He glanced briefly towards Slade—no help there, he knew.  He looked to the other Titans.  Raven had her gaze on Robin now, looking pained.  Beast Boy's eyes were wide as saucers, the blood drained from his face as he looked on, horrified.</p><p>Cyborg gave a growl.  "B, you're up.  Get over here," he ordered.</p><p>"Me?!" Beast Boy squeaked.  He gawped indignantly.  "What am<em> I</em> supposed to do?"</p><p>"Finish fixing my code, now come on," Cyborg said, urging him over with his head.</p><p>Beast Boy picked up the wire leading into his collar and dragged it over with him as he came over, stepping around Robin as the Boy Wonder trembled in place.</p><p>He leaned down and took a quick look at the text in Cyborg's arm.  He blanched again.</p><p>"Dude, what is this?  Is this Python?!  I'm not qualified for this!" the changeling protested.</p><p>"You hack computers all the time!" Cyborg argued, his voice rising.</p><p>"Yeah but that's <em>different!</em>  I can't just mess around in your systems!"</p><p><em>"Well <b>someone</b> has to do it!"</em> Cyborg snapped loudly.</p><p>His shout echoed in the room a moment, then left the room completely silent save for Robin's whimpering gibberish.</p><p>Cyborg noticed the stressed glimmer hugging the edges of Beast Boy's eyes, and sighed, lowering his voice again.</p><p>"Look, it's easy," he said quietly.  "Just read out the code to me, and I'll tell you exactly what to do."</p><p>Beast Boy's pinched eyes flicked towards Robin, but Robin's head was buried in his knees and shaking, so with extreme reluctance he knelt down by Cyborg, accepting that—for the moment—the Titans' fearless leader was useless to them.</p><p>"Okay..." Beast Boy breathed, trying to calm his nerves.  His sensitive ears could pick out every decibel of Starfire's screaming and that forced him to remember what was at stake.  "Okay...  So, the first line is—"</p><p>The two of them worked quickly, Beast Boy reading out the lines of code and programming and Cyborg quickly identifying which part was wrong and instructing the changeling how to change it.</p><p>Sharp electric crackling could now be heard, punctuating the spaces between Starfire's screams.  Robin squished himself smaller and smaller, his arms like vices around his leg, whispering,<em> "Stopitstopitstopistopit..."</em> in a long blended stream.</p><p>Slade was silent in the corner, watching with an unreadable expression, but Cyborg thought he caught a glimpse of the man's grip tightening protectively on Jericho.</p><p>The half-robot sent signals to Raven's collar again.</p><p>"Ngh!" she grunted, giving a harsh jolt and a flinch behind her closed eyes.</p><p>Beast Boy paused a moment, glancing over in concern.  "Raven?" he asked.  "What is it?"</p><p>Raven's face was grimacing in discomfort.  "It's working," she relayed.  She opened her eyes, expression grim.  "I can feel her."</p><p>Beast Boy's eyes widened.  He glanced first at Robin—who had finally pulled his face from his knees, a tormented look on his haggard features—and then at Cyborg, who nodded.</p><p>The changeling's voice grew a little tighter and higher-pitched as he read out the next part.</p><p>"Okay, so I close the brackets right?"</p><p>"Yeah, and make sure those quotation marks are inside the parenthesis," Cyborg confirmed.</p><p>Starfire's next scream was louder than ever, ending in a horrible pained sobbing.</p><p>"Azar..." Raven breathed.</p><p>Robin uncurled with a cry, surging to his feet, flinging himself against the door.</p><p><em>"STOP IT!  STOP IT!  LEAVE HER ALONE!"</em> he shouted, pounding on the metal with his fists.  <em>"LEAVE HER <b>ALONE!</b>"</em></p><p>"Oh man..." Beast Boy whimpered, his attention already drawing away from Cyborg's arm towards the awful display.</p><p>"Keep going," Cyborg urged.</p><p>Beast Boy kept reading aloud the lines, following Cyborg's instructions to fix them, trying to ignore the slams and crashing coming from in front of them as Robin threw himself bodily into the thick cell wall.</p><p>
  <em>Bang!  BANG!</em>
</p><p>Robin couldn't think, half-feral with fear and desperation.  He screamed his lungs out furiously, scratching, <em>clawing</em> at the door, smashing his fists into it over and over.</p><p>"BASTARD!" he shrieked.  "I'LL KILL YOU!  I <em>SWEAR </em> I'LL KILL YOU!"</p><p>There was nothing in his head but panic and anger.  Starfire was <em>out there</em>, she was in <em>pain</em>, and he couldn't <em>make it stop</em>.</p><p>There was a low voice from beyond the door—Dr. Agony maybe?—and a breath in-between a surge of electric humming and Starfire's awful, <em>awful </em>scream-filled cries of agony.</p><p><em>"STOP!" </em>he yelled in response.  "Starfire!  <em>Starfire!</em>"  His vision was blurring, his knuckles were bruised and his head spun but he didn't care, he just wanted to smash through the wall and pull her from that stupid device and <em>hold </em>her and bury his face in her hair and know she was okay, tell her she was okay, tell it it had all stopped.  He reeled back with a dry sob.  "Take me instead!" he called.  "Take me,<em> please</em>, I'll do <em>anything!</em>"  Wet heat was welling up in his eyes but he was beyond the point of noticing anymore.  "Please just stop!  <em>Please!</em>"</p><p>He drew back and slammed himself into the door again.</p><p>
  <em>"Stop hurting her!"</em>
</p><p>"Robin—" Raven began to say, worried gaze fixed on him mutely.</p><p>Another slam.</p><p>
  <em>"I'll kill you, you bastard. I'LL KILL YOU!  STOP IT!"</em>
</p><p>"Robin<em> stop</em>, she can <em>hear you</em>!" Raven cried.</p><p>A hand clutched at her temple.  Cyborg and Beast Boy's work was evident in the fading numbness, the ever-loudening echoes she could feel through her empathic senses, which rang with feedback from her bond with Robin.  Starfire's pain fed into Robin's distress, which fed back into Starfire's, cyclical and building and stumbling over each other in her head and she almost didn't <em>want</em> her powers back if this hellish loop of pain and fear and hopelessness was what waited for her.</p><p>Robin just charged headlong into the door again with a snarling cry.</p><p>Raven shifted, moving to get up, but Slade was already beating her to the punch.  Jericho was laid down carefully on the floor and the man stood to his feet, walking calmly over to the frenzied Robin.</p><p>The Boy Wonder smashed into the door once more, reeling back with a pained groan and clutching at his shoulder.  He was moving back to try again, but just as he lurched forward Slade's hand caught his arm and stopped him, turning the boy to face him.</p><p>"That's enough, Robin," he said sternly.</p><p>Robin rounded on him, shouting shrilly.  "This is all your fault!" he yelled.  His arm drew back for a swing.  "We wouldn't even <em>be here </em>if you hadn't—"</p><p>Slade caught the punch he threw, gripping Robin's wrist tightly, harshly.</p><p>"This.  Won't.  Help her," he hissed, the words pinching through his teeth.</p><p>Robin inhaled shakily, the tears in his eyes welling up and finally spilling down his cheeks.  He leaned forward, choking back a sob, resting his forehead on Slade's chestplate.</p><p>Slade stiffened, dropping Robin's wrist and giving an aggravated hiss.  His hands hovered awkwardly in the air.  The Titans gaped openly, wearing matching expressions of shock.  Robin sniffled pitifully, his shoulders shaking.</p><p>After a long uncomfortable moment, Slade finally pushed at Robin's shoulders, and Robin seemed to come to himself, pulling quickly back and wiping at his eyes.</p><p>"'m sorry.  I'm sorry," he mumbled.</p><p>Cyborg shook his head, nudging Beast Boy with his knee to keep working.  They could process how weird all this was later.  "All right, BB, I think one more signal disruption should do it."</p><p>Beast Boy nodded, returning to the lines of code and entering in another cipher.</p><p>As soon as he finished, Cyborg tested the inner mechanism of his sonic cannon, sending a surge of electricity through his arm, up the wire, and into Raven's collar.</p><p>It shorted, sparking and then popping open and Raven snapped up her hands in a flash.</p><p>"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she yelled.</p><p>Black energy poured out from her, extinguishing the dim computer display, and a chill surrounded them.  Sounded muted out for a moment before becoming horribly clear, light and open air hitting their faces.</p><p>Their feet were barely back on solid ground before Robin launched himself forward, screaming wretchedly.  He body-checked one of Dr. Agony's technicians, slamming the man into the ground, his fist uppercutting the man's jaw.  A couple more brutal punches smashed into the technician's face before the guards were finally reacting, rushing forward, pulling the Boy Wonder off.  He twisted around, his arms flailing, legs sweeping out for kicks and he soon became a blur to the other Titans' eyes.</p><p>Raven let her powers lash around the room, slicing through rifles, smacking men into the walls.  The wires rolled up into Cyborg's wrist stubs and he shoulder-slammed a technician aside to retrieve one of his hands from a metal table.  Beast Boy tossed him his other one and Cyborg's sonic cannon ratcheted up, adding its noise to the chaos and din.</p><p>At some point Beast Boy's collar came off and his roars sounded as he towered over the room in T-Rex form, sweeping his tail across a row of equipment and tables and splintering the rack they had Starfire attached to.  She collapsed across the rubble, crimson hair splaying across the ground.</p><p>Raven shoved out walls of black matter, pushing obstacles aside so she could clear a path to the Tamaranian.  The empathic waves she could sense from Starfire were finally calming, but Robin was blaring louder than ever.  She cast her eyes about, looking for him.</p><p>There was a swoosh of air, a dull thud, and a wet gargle from her right, and her empathic senses felt a rush of fear blossoming; her head whipped that direction in time to see a quick flash of Slade, Jericho over his shoulder, pulling a knife from Dr. Agony's gut.  The man toppled over, out of sight, and she had turn away to sidestep the blow a guard was swinging at her.</p><p>She looked forward again.  Beast Boy and Cyborg were making their way to Starfire's side.  Robin had another guard pinned underneath him; the man's nose was broken—possibly his jaw too—and blood streamed freely down his face and Robin was still punching, each blow harder and harder, screaming with every breath.</p><p>Raven reached out as he was lifting his fist again, snagging his wrist.</p><p><em>"Enough!"</em> she shouted.  She pulled him backwards off the guard, yanking him to his feet, grabbing his arms near the shoulders.  "It's okay, it's<em> okay</em> Robin, we've got her now," she assured him.  "Calm <em>down</em>."</p><p>He gasped heavily, catching his breath, every limb shaking and vibrating, the rage within him quivering.  With enormous effort, he forced himself to take deeper and slower breaths.</p><p>A soft groan sounded.</p><p>Robin shoved Raven aside with his arm, running and stumbling towards the fallen princess.  Cyborg had turned her over, was busy examining her, checking her pulse, her breathing, but Robin couldn't wait for him to be finished, throwing himself down and scooping her up in his arms, squeezing her tightly.</p><p>"Star..." he sobbed, tear tracks streaking down his face again.  "Star I'm so, so sorry!  I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." he breathed over and over again.</p><p>She moaned quietly, her eyelids fluttering open, eyes still vibrantly green in spite of the pallor of her skin and the burn marks marring her clothes and extremities.</p><p>Her mouth twitched with a smile.</p><p>"Robin..." she whispered, and the <em>relief</em> in her voice made the floodgates open and Robin cried openly, wheezing, shuddering, sobbing until he hiccuped, unable to make himself move or do anything but hold her tighter and tighter, feel her heartbeat against his chest.</p><p>She was warm...</p><p>The other Titans hovered, keeping careful watch over the fallen guards and technicians.  Raven glanced over and grimaced at the growing pool of blood underneath the twisted body of the doctor.  Slade and Jericho had vanished.  She couldn't sense them anywhere near.</p><p>Feeling the consciousnesses of several men beginning to return, she tugged lightly on Robin's cape.</p><p>"We can't stay here," she told him.</p><p>Pulling his head up, Robin inhaled and nodded.  He didn't move for several long seconds though, and finally Beast Boy just nosed his way under them, becoming an elephant to carry them out of there.</p><p>Raven lifted Cyborg and the Titans made their escape, turning down hallways and corridors until they emerged into the open air.</p><p>Robin cradled Starfire tightly the whole way, slowly growing numb to the world.</p><p>-TT-</p><p>Sunlight streamed into the room, bright to match the cadence of her voice as she sat up, eating and talking.</p><p>Robin hovered outside the door to the medbay, holding his elbows.  Hesitating.</p><p>Starfire picked food from her tray as she chatted, dressed in a light hospital gown, her arms wrapped with white bandages.  The other Titans—plus Jericho—were arranged around her in a supportive circle.  She sounded okay, but Robin had heard crying from the room in the middle of the night, and he wasn't sure if it was his nightmares bleeding into reality or reality bleeding into his nightmares.</p><p>He was almost afraid to ask.</p><p>"You know I can sense you standing out there."</p><p>Robin startled at Raven's voice from inside the room.  The conversation had gone quiet without him noticing.  With a grimace, he stepped around the doorframe.</p><p>Cyborg leaned back from Starfire's hospital bed, sending him a grin.</p><p>"Look who decided to finally join us," he quipped.</p><p>His grin faded as he and Beast Boy separated from the rest and came over to speak with him privately.</p><p>"Real talk, are you okay man?" Cyborg asked, voice low.  "You took everything pretty hard."</p><p>The concern with which they were looking at him was scalding and he hated it.  "I'm not the one who got..."  He paid an uncomfortable glance at Starfire and Jericho.  "...experimented on."</p><p>"Yeah but you, like... completely fell apart," Beast Boy pointed out, whispering.  "You practically wanted a <em>hug</em> from<em> Slade.</em>"</p><p>"Don't remind me," Robin muttered.</p><p>"Robin?" Starfire called from behind them.</p><p>"We'll talk later," Robin decided, pushing past the other boys.</p><p>Starfire beamed broadly upon seeing him.  She extended a hand, motioning for him to sit next to her.  Jericho got up from the spot she indicated, nodding at Robin.</p><p><em>Should we let you two have a minute?</em> he signed.</p><p>"Yes.  Thanks," he said gratefully.</p><p>Jericho grabbed the stand his IV was hanging from and rolled it along with him, motioning for the others to follow.</p><p>Raven cast a look at him that promised they would be talking later before she followed the boys out of the room, Beast Boy and Cyborg sharing matching expressions of reluctance.</p><p>Their footsteps faded from hearing.</p><p>Unable to contain himself any longer, Robin flung himself across the room to her side, his arms wrapping tight around her, a choked sound coming from him.</p><p>Starfire let out a grunt of surprise at first, but quickly wound her arms across his back.  Her face tucked into the crook of his neck and she felt his shoulders shaking.</p><p>"I'm sorry," he sobbed.  "I'm so sorry, Starfire, when I heard you I just—I couldn't—"</p><p>"I know," she told him.  "I understand."  She squeezed him tighter, her fingers curling into his tunic.  "But it was... difficult... hearing you and knowing you could not help me."</p><p>"I'm sorry," he repeated.</p><p>They stayed there, embracing each other, Robin's tears dripping down his chin.</p><p>Eventually he pulled back, mashing his hands across his cheeks.  He inhaled shakily, leveling his eyes at her in concern.  "Are... you okay now?" he asked anxiously.</p><p>She hesitated to answer, glancing down.  "I am... not sleeping well," she admitted softly.  "Sounds startle me.  I had an awful nightmare last night."  She traced the blanket across her legs with her fingers.  "Jericho says he is feeling much the same."  Her eyes lifted again, bright and soft, and a sad smile touched her lips.  "But we are healing quickly from the physical damage."  She shook her head.  "In time, the emotional will fade as well."</p><p>His hand crept across the bed for hers, interacing their fingers.  "I'll be here if... if you need to talk.  About anything."</p><p>Her smile edged wider.  "Thank you."  She squeezed his hand.  "Now please," she told him, "I know you have not slept either, so go and get some rest.  For me."</p><p>"In a bit," he promised.  "I need to... look at you for a while."</p><p>She let him, her thumb brushing over the back of his hand as the sunlight framed their heads and a sense of quiet peace settled over them.</p>
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